


this Frightful Forever

by Oaklin



Series: Forever Everything [54]
Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Beef is still a pretty bad friend, Insecurity, Kayfabe Compliant, M/M, Swearing, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Unhealthy Relationships, amused!Everyone Else, at least Excess is a good friend, confused!Sami, he has someone to rant at about The Thing That They Do now though, obligatory Kevin Steen warning, sated!Kevin, so yay for Beef?, stealth angst, stealth romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-13 12:07:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11184801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oaklin/pseuds/Oaklin
Summary: bby!Sami is confused.(not that that is unusual <3)





	this Frightful Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello!
> 
> This one isn't that floofy? Unless you find fluffy-ness in Sami and Excess' friendship. Which, I mean, Sami is a huge huggy doofus, who loves all of his friends with an intensity that probably makes some of them nervous, so that is a valid interpretation. Not much else going on here, except more character stuff. For pretty much everyone this time, except AJ and Beef. They get no development at all. I guess they are just here to be exasperated and look pretty?
> 
> Well, since I'm not particularly feeling ranty today, I'll let you get on with the story. Hope you like it and have a good week!

Sami snaps his head up, eyes going wide as Excess plops down on the bench beside him, looking exhausted but satisfied. He reaches over, snatching Sami’s water bottle off the table and unscrewing the cap, throwing his feet across the bench and lounging backwards against the wall.

“So, what did I rate, eh?” Excess asks, smirking at the awestruck looks he is getting as he steals Sami’s nachos as well.

Sami doesn’t even complain, resisting the urge to reach out and use his shirt sleeve to wipe the blood from the corner of Excess’ mouth.

After all, that match had been _phenomenal_ , **but** -

-Isn't it really, really **_bad_ ** to bleed from the mouth?-

“That was so fucking cool,” Sami blurts, instead of taking any kind of action that may or may not (help?) the situation. If the situation even needs help.

If there even _is_ a situation to begin with.

(Why does Sami feel so confused and befuddled all of a sudden?)

Sami briefly contemplates the fact that _he_ may be the one who needs **_help_**.

Excess laughs, the sound slightly hoarse, though his eyes are shining brightly, still high on adrenaline from the long slog of a match that he had just clattered his way through. Sami feels a pang of jealousy, for a moment. It is not every day that one gets such an invigorating (if painful) experience, even when wrestling is your job.

“That good, huh? Hey, Steen, what did you think?” Excess calls out jerking his shin at Kevin, who is sitting not that far away.

Sami is taken aback for a moment at Kevin’s close proximity. He had seen Excess and Kevin both stumble to the back, only moments ago, still glaring at each other and sniping. Oddly enough even through the post-match bitterness they had seemed surprisingly chummy and, while certainly aggressive, it was in a somewhat less-hostile-than-usual manner. Sami realizes that that fact had floored him so much, that he had lost track of Kevin.

Sami is slightly disturbed by the fact that he had somehow not noticed Kevin setting himself down in the center of the room.

It felt odd, the sensation of guilt mixed with confusion. Sami was usually acutely aware of Kevin’s presence at all times, even when they were-

-...less than friendly?-

(Which Sami and Kevin most certainly _**were not**_ )

(...at the _moment_ )

Sami tried not to contemplate how it seemed like sometime they were fighting more often than they were-

(!)

- _Anyway_ -

Even odder still, was the fact that Kevin, for reasons that escaped Sami, was sitting in the middle of the room, making himself the center of attention in a way that would normally send the anti-social man stomping off into a dark corner of the room, insulting everyone as he went. Not this time though, for some reason.

Kevin was situated, not off to the side, or squashed into some tiny corner, buried in his own discarded tape and obnoxiously trying to be ignored. No, now Kevin was stationed in the very center of the room, parked on the only actual chair in the whole locker room, his duffel thrown haphazardly onto the table next to him as he -silently and with minimal antagonistic glaring- unwinds his tape and wrestles his boots off.

Sami blinks, puzzled at Kevin’s newfound semi social behavior, contemplating all the possible reasons for such actions, before scoffing at his own ridiculousness. Like Kevin, of all people, needed a reason to do **anything**. Or that Kevin would, for one unfathomable moment, need to explain the reasons for anything he does to _Sami_ of all people. As if Sami was the single person that Kevin was allowed to interact with, show off for, and Kevin acting differently around other people or forging new pattern behaviors without first informing Sami of his thought process was some horrible betrayal that Kevin needed to answer for.

-Wow-

-Mountain out of a mole hill much?-

“It was alright. I’ve had better,” Kevin rumbles, something sharp in his gaze as he shoots Excess a sneer, that is met with a cheeky grin from the wrestler sitting beside Sami.

Sami blinks at the interaction, wondering if he has been sucked into some alternate dimension where Kevin is- Sami doesn’t even **_know_**. Not himself. Sami squints over at his dear friend, cocking his head and watching for any sign that the man has been drinking copious amounts of alcohol or has been replaced by a pod person.

-Rude-

Fair.

“Ug, would the two of you get a goddamn room, jesus. You had a good match, stop acting like it was the best lay of your life, for fucks’ sake,” Beef groans with a melodramatic sigh, though the effect is lessened by the fact the he doesn’t even raise his eyes from the rather intense looking game of poker he is in the middle of with Eddy.

Excess smacks Beef in the back of his head with the now empty water bottle, getting momentarily distracted as Sami offers the rest of the tray of nachos to him. Mouth full of cheap cheese and soggy tortilla chips, Excess throws his hands up, gesturing grandly.

“Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. If you’re so jelly, go jump on Kevin yourself. The dude is like, always itchin’ for a fight.”

Beef snorts loudly, flashing Sami a look that Sami would rather not interpret, but the vague thoughts of the last few times Beef and Kevin fought do flash unwelcome, through his mind. Before either of them can get caught up reminiscing though, Kevin speaks up, surprisingly little bitterness in his voice, which is still throwing Sami off more than he thinks it strictly should.

“You are both fucking idiots,” Kevin stands, flicking the discarded tape to the floor and snatching his towel up and swinging it over his shoulder as he heads towards the showers “And for what it‘s worth, if your ego even cares, that was not **at all** the best lay of my life. You're gonna need to grow a proper pair if you want to compete on **_that_ ** particular playing field.”

Sami blinks, watching Kevin swagger to the bathroom, the completely at ease look on his face and the totally unconcerned way that he disregards being somewhat the center of attention makes Sami thoroughly confused.

Not that Sami is upset that Kevin is finally seeming to settle in, to relax and let himself become part of their weird little island of misfit toys. Quite the opposite in fact, the way Kevin not only seems to be warming up to other people, but seems to be going out of his way to interact and be a part of things makes Sami’s heart soar.

(Even if there is a strangely sad part of Sami)

(A part of himself that Sami will do his best to _ignore_ )

- **Bitter** -

(No.)

- _ **Jealous**_ -

(...yeah.)

(sorry)

None of those horrible, selfish, unnecessarily possessive thoughts matter, though. Sami is just thankful that Kevin is happy(?) and including others in his life.

Also, it is nice that while the match in question was quite brutal, Kevin seems to have finally realized (sort of) that he doesn’t have to murder the people that he fights, and they can indeed go on to be friendly afterwards.

(Sami **still** doesn’t understand why _everyone_ , at one point or another, feels the need to alienate their friends over something as stupid as a **_wrestling match_**.)

(That is _not_ what wrestling is about and it-)

(ug.)

Sami jerks himself out of his internal distress when Excess mutters something under his breath that sounds vaguely like Sami’s name. Sami flashes him an apologetic smile and tries to draw himself back into the conversation with as much attentiveness as he can scare up.

“Sorry. Where you talking to me? I was having an existential crisis, and wasn’t paying attention.”

“You are always having an existential crisis, kid,” Drawls AJ, strolling by with what looks like the entirety of Picard’s fridge is his arms, heading straight for the door, even as he turns to give Sami a cheeky wink.

“Stuff it, AJ. Mind the door,” Eddy pips up, adding himself to the conversation just long enough to grin at AJ, who has to spin around, just barely not slamming face first into the door. AJ flips the room off, which Excess just giggles at, still seemingly high on the match.

-Or he is **severely** concussed-

Well.

Point.

“And I was just saying that it’s not really **_fair_ ** for Kevin to compare me to his best lay. He doesn’t even rate us the same way, so the fact that he would try to hoist us side by side is ludicrous. I can’t win **that** ,” Excess continues, throwing the empty bottle, watching it sail through the air and crowing triumphantly when it slams straight into the trash can on the first try.

Sami blinks, feeling heat rise in his cheeks as he tries to parse out what **exactly** they are talking about, and how much of it involves him.

-It sure is a _baffling mystery_ -

“Are we still talking about **_wrestling_ _?_ _”_** Sami tries to clarify, which earns a distinct, do-you-see-what-I-have-to-put-up-with look from Beef, directed at Excess, who just gives Sami a chipper smile.

“I **dunno** , are we?”

Sami makes a face, glancing at the little door that leads to the tiny room with four grungy showers, for some reason sure that if Kevin were out here, his newfound enthusiasm for socializing would make this conversation even more strange than it currently is.

“Well, I don’t know who he was talking about when he mentioned his best- **match** ,” Sami bears down on the word, shooting Beef a exasperated look when the other man giggles like a preteen in health class.

(Honestly)

“I mean, I assume that he means Lynn, or Christopher, but I don’t really know exactly how he thinks of those matches in his own mind so I’m not really the person to talk about these things-”

Excess claps Sami roughly on the back, looking like he is about to heave himself up and out of his chair, still beaming brightly, though now it looks like the amusement is directed at Sami specifically and Sami puzzles over that for a minute before writing it off.

Excess has had a long day, after all.

He is completely allowed to take enjoyment from whatever he pleases.

(Sami is still confused though, but honestly, the way this particular conversation has gone, he would probably be better off not knowing the exact source of Excess’ amusement)

“Really? Because I think you are the perfect person to talk to about Kevin’s greatest hits. Especially considering how many he has had with you already.”

Beef says something, but Sami is to busy breathing a sigh of relief to catch all of it. Not that he particularly cares, Beef is probably making some offhand comment about Kevin having terrible taste. Sami just takes a moment to pull himself out of the conversation and be glad that they are not using sex metaphors any more. He is not sure if music metaphors are any better, considering that he and Kevin have vastly different taste in both artist and genre, but it is definitely an improvement. Why the sex metaphors bothered him so much, Sami chooses to ignore, for the time being.

(Forever)

-Why?-

(because shut up)

-Very mature-

“I mean, lets be honest, at the rate you two are going, generations of little wrestling fans are going to be watching nothing but compilations of you and Kevin kicking the crap out of each other, for years to come. That is basically your legacy, if that was what you were going for,” Eddy says, handing Excess a damp towel and an energy bar as the other man passes him.

“Well, I mean, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if Kevin and I were tied together for all our careers, and even after that, on into our legacies. That sounds really-” Sami has to _breath_ through **that** particular mental picture, because for one heartbeat, it is abruptly far **_too much_** to handle, raking the breath out of him as he seems to get flooded with the blissful future that he has never dared dream about.

(because the _disappointment_ if it didn’t happen)

(or if Kevin **decided** -)

Sami shakes his head, resurfacing with an exhale that leaves him reeling.

“Anyway, what does any of that have to do with-”

(Wait.)

-?-

(They _**don’t** _ mean-)

-Wow-

-Slow today, or what?-

_But_.

Hang **on**.

They can’t be **_serious_**.

“I am not Kevin’s-” All the euphemisms of the present conversation rear up in his mind, and suddenly they all make his stomach flop anxiously and embarrassment creep up his spine.

“I am not Kevin’s best **anything** , certainly not his best match. Holy crap, you two.”

For some reason, it is important that they know this. That Kevin has and most certainly will go on to do, greater things than roll around with Sami in some grungy flea market.

(Regardless of how fond those memories are)

(and how much the very thought of being in between the ropes with Kevin feels like pure, wild lightning striking through Sami’s body)

It isn’t weird, that the mere suggestion of getting in a ring with Kevin makes Sami feel more alive than he has ever felt.

That is always the way it feels, and this time is not different.

Sami is aware for the first time, how odd it is though.

Should he be worried?

Should he ease up and maybe curb his...

...excitement?

-No-

...okay then.

“Right,” Excess says, and Sami puffs up with indignation at the fact that he doesn’t even have the courtesy to pretend to humor Sami.

“See what I have to fucking deal with? Can you believe the obtuse horseshit that comes outta their goddamn mouths on a daily-”

Beef’s nattering is cut off when Kevin comes breezing out of the showers, dark hair glimmering with moisture as he scoops up his bag.

He levels Sami with a look, “We’re going. You want to stop anywhere?”

Sami blinks, though he is already moving, his body long learned the necessary muscle memory, giving his brain time to catch up with the fact that Kevin just asked him a question and Sami doesn’t know what to do with said question after the flustering conversation he has just had.

Should he ask?

Because for some reason, he is burning with curiosity about what, in Kevin’s own opinion, is his greatest match.

(he shouldn’t)

“Yeah. Can we stop at the zoo in the next town over? They have a panda exhibit that just opened.”

Kevin freezes turning to give Sami a long, hard look, that Sami cuts off at the pass.

“I checked and double checked. There are pandas. There will be pandas for the foreseeable future. There are also llamas.”

Kevin snorts, though his dark eyes are alight in that intense way that makes Sami’s knees tremble.

“Fine, if that is what you want. You owe me fucking llamas anyway.”

**Author's Note:**

> Is a Drama Llama warning even appropriate here? Okay, to be fair, that's definitely not my best pun, but eh. You do what you can.
> 
> So. Either next weekend or the one after that, should be the Left at the Cross Roads sequel. It depends entirely on whether I get some irl stuff under control, because at the present moment I do not at all have enough time or creative energy to run two simultaneous series. Although, fair warning, the Left at the Cross Roads series will probably be sporadic as hell, and not weekly like this one. We shall see though, hopefully I get some space this next week.
> 
> Either way, hope you liked it and see you next week!
> 
> Edit: Uh, it occurs to me that the AJ thing might seem like a non sequitur. Eric Picard is the guy who owned EWR. This fic takes place at EWR Underrated. Hope that makes a little more sense?


End file.
